


The First Recruit

by Benfrosh



Category: Original Work
Genre: Banditry, Gen, Thuggery, Violence, also a cool stick, these two characters won't get out of my head so i am putting them here instead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-08
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-12-12 16:32:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11740896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Benfrosh/pseuds/Benfrosh
Summary: A bandit with no other options, Heiwan finds himself face to face with his final target.





	The First Recruit

Heiwan cackled to himself as he counted the coins from his latest haul. "Ten gold royals - my lucky day!" he exclaimed with a cheer. He deposited them all into a leather sack, which he tied to his belt next to the wooden sword that had become his weapon of choice. "And that should be enough to last the whole month, if I'm careful with it." His own now secured, he held the velvet bag he liberated the coins from at arm's length, leering at it. "Knowing my luck, this is probably embossed with some secret seal, and I'll be chased down again the moment I pawn it," he muttered to himself. "I've had enough of nobles for one lifetime." He tossed it away, not even bothering to watch as it slowly fluttered to the ground from the tree branch he was perched on. 

Heiwan stifled back a yawn - it was getting late in the day, and it had been a busy one. He hated to admit it, but he was getting awfully competent at this whole banditry business. Three merchant caravans shaken down and not a scratch to show for it, not even when one of the guards got uppity and brandished a sword at him. Even if it was his last choice of profession, at least he was making a living off of it. He jumped off the tree and landed in one smooth motion. "Anyway, I should probably find someplace to stay for the ni-"

"You there!" came a voice from behind him. Heiwan turned in surprise to see a woman - barely nine chi in height, with shoulder-length gray hair despite not looking a day past her thirties. She dressed lightly, in a loose shirt for travelers and a pair of brown pants. Heiwan could see no possessions on her, and could barely get a read on her. An itinerant like him? As he stared, she walked up to him. "I've heard tell there are bandits in the area - do you know anything about them?"

Heiwan scoffed. "Seems like there are bandits everywhere I go, nowadays." Not technically a lie. "What about it?"

The woman waved her hand and, seemingly from nowhere, materialized a coin between her fingers. "This is for you if you lead me to them. Even the site of their last attack would be helpful."

Heiwan whistled as he ran his hand through his cornrows. "Hell of an offer there. You sure about this?"

She nodded. "Well?"

Heiwan stifled a grin as a horrible idea came through his head. "It's lucky you came along, then. I was just checking by the side of the road, and I think I found evidence that they just attacked someone."

If she was surprised, the woman showed no sign of it. "Show me."

Heiwan gestured over to the tree he had been relaxing in moments ago. "Over here, I saw something on the ground. Looked like some lost loot." The two walked over, and sure enough, there was the velvet bag he himself had just thrown to the ground. As the woman knelt down to examine it, Heiwan slowly walked up behind her, before quietly drawing his wooden sword. _Please forgive me, lady_ , he apologized internally. _You were going to give the money away anyways - might as well go to me._ He brought the sword up high, and swung it down onto -

\- her waiting hand. 

Cursing loudly, he pulled back his attack before she could get a firm grasp on his sword to disarm him. He settled into a combat stance as she drew herself up from the ground, brushing the dirt off her pants. This was no ordinary traveler, he belatedly realized. "How'd you guess?" he asked.

"I guessed nothing. You might not expect this, but I'm a fairly trusting sort." She stretched her arms, and from somewhere behind her back she pulled a staff - though a staff longer than she was tall. There was nowhere she could have hidden it, but there it was. "I felt your hostile intent. To ambush me while I was defenseless..." She shook her head. 

Heiwan chuckled nervously. "Oh, come on. You can hardly call yourself defenseless, clearly." Every bone in his body screamed at him to run away and give this up before it escalated any further, but two things goaded him on - his greed, and his excitement at a possible challenge. "Besides, I need the money. You know how it goes."

The woman scoffed. "If you need the money so bad, then let's have a duel. If you win, you get the money."

"Basically what we were doing anyway, so sure."

"If I win, you come with me."

"Don't really have a choice, do I? If I say no, you're just going to beat me up and take me to the magistrate anyway."

The woman smiled. Heiwan took that as a confirmation.

Nervously, he examined the woman's form and considered his angles of attack. His sword, as capable as he was, wasn't prepared for dealing with long staves like this. For him to get close enough to strike, he'd end up well within smacking range, and he wasn't prepared to gamble he could take many of them. His best course of action would probably be to feint an attack, then as she countered, move to disarm her. 

Set on his plan, Heiwan edged forward, shuffling his feet as he held his sword with both hands at the ready. The woman simply stared at him, body loose and ready. She reminded him of nothing more than a cobra poised to strike, staring down its victim before it bit down. Well, here he was about to poke the snake. He took a swipe at the tip of her staff, knocking it slightly to the side as he rushed in. He brought one hand free to catch the staff as she brought it into him, but...

Heiwan couldn't explain what happened next. Well, he could. The staff shrank in front of his very eyes, evading his grasp. And it slightly turned, and extended, and slammed into his gut at top speed. He felt as if a rock had fallen from a high cliff onto his stomach. Doubling over in pain, he quickly stepped back and tried to bring his sword to the ready to block another thrust. Maybe he has just misjudged the length- but he could not complete the thought, as the staff slammed into his head and knocked him to the ground.

As Heiwan looked up at the sky, his mind reeling both at the impossibility of what had happened and at the pain inflicted upon him, the woman walked over to look down at him, a grin on her face. "Enchanted staff, you see. Shrinks and grows. Probably could have beaten you in a fair fight anyways, but I didn't feel like giving you the honor right away."

Heiwan coughed, and checked his lips. No blood, he thought with some relief. "R-right away?"

The woman reached out her hand towards him. "I can see you've been trained as a warrior. Life as a bandit is a waste of your talents. I want to give you a new life."

Heiwan laughed as much as he could with his sore ribs. "What makes you think I deserve a new life? There's a reason I'm a bandit, you know. No one will have me."

The woman smiled. "Good thing I'm a nobody, then."

Heiwan didn't know what to make of that. But he did know what to make of an offer of help. He reached out to clasp her hand in his own. "Name's Heiwan. What's yours, nobody?"

She lifted him up in one smooth motion, as Heiwan marveled at her strength - she could easily lift his nine chi two cun body without breaking stride. He still didn't know what to make of her story of a magical staff, but something about her was otherworldly to say the least. "My name's Ji," she replied.

"No family name?" he asked.

"Do you have one?" she countered.

"Not anymore."

"Then it shouldn't surprise you. Let's go." She turned around and returned down the path from whence she came, waving Heiwan on.

"Go? Hey, where we going?" he asked as he ran to catch up to her.

"To return the gold you stole. Then, to my home."

Heiwan sighed. "Please tell me you're at least going to feed me..."

"There'll be plenty to eat - once we finish harvesting it."

Heiwan let out a groan.

Still, though, he thought to himself. She was the first person he had met since the disaster that had given him an opportunity to live life again. And he owed it to himself - and to everyone he lost - to take that opportunity.


End file.
